State

Albuquerque Area Drains: Trout fishing on the Albuquerque Drain, Albuquerque Drain South, Belen Drain and the Corrales Drain was fair to good using spinners, wax worms, power eggs, small jigs and salmon eggs.
A.J. Trujillo fished the Belen Drain with his brother Gerald Trujillo and his wife, Amber Trujillo of Los Lunas. They caught a walleye, carp, catfish, three largemouth bass and a trout. All were caught on power jigs with the exception of the trout, which was caught on a Rooster Tail.
Bluewater Lake: Opened for ice fishing Saturday, Jan. 16, with an ice thickness ranging from 7 to 9 inches.
Fishing was fair to good using atomic jigs for trout. Fishing for all other species was slow.
For updated ice conditions, contact the State Park office at 505-876-2391.
Chama River: Monday morning water flows below El Vado and Abiquiu were 114 cfs and 68 cfs respectively.
Fishing below Abiquiu was good again this past week as anglers did well using Berkley power eggs, worms, wooly buggers and egg patterns for trout.
Cochiti Lake: As of Monday, the majority of the lake was covered with unsafe ice.

SANTA FE – The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish is soliciting nominations for its inaugural Excellence in Wildlife Conservation awards to be presented Feb. 20 at the Governor’s Special Hunt Auction and Banquet at Expo New Mexico in Albuquerque.
The awards are in recognition of outstanding achievements and contributions to wildlife conservation in New Mexico.
The public is invited to submit nominations in the following categories:
Governor’s Conservationist Lifetime Achievement Award:
The Governor’s Conservationist Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes a distinguished individual who has made a contribution of lasting significance to the benefit of New Mexico’s wildlife.
Nominees should be individuals whose lifelong efforts have been dedicated to conserving New Mexico’s wildlife for future generations.
Commissioner’s Wildlife Conservation Partnership Award:
The Commissioner’s Wildlife Conservation Partnership Award recognizes an organization that promotes wildlife conservation in New Mexico.

EAGLE NEST — Ice anglers rejoice. The annual Ice Fishing Tournament, to be held Jan. 30 at Eagle Nest Lake State Park, once again promises excellent fishing and impressive prizes. The prize money from 2015 totaled $2,966.
Cold weather recently at Eagle Nest Lake indicates good ice coverage for the event.
Registration begins at 6 a.m. Jan. 30 inside the Eagle Nest Lake State Park Visitor Center.
Tournament participants must be in line at the visitor center no later than 2 p.m. to enter their catch for tournament prizes.
Tournament fee is $10 for each category entered. Participants are eligible for prizes in only those categories they enter.
Last year, the tournament drew 182 registered ice fishermen from 42 different towns and cities in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Texas. Last year’s prize money and categories included $1,028 (trout), $879 (perch), $609 (creel) and $450 (pike).
Raffle and door prizes were also awarded while the event raised more than $2,500 to help Friends of Eagle Nest Lake and Cimarron Canyon State Parks promote activities at the two state parks.

ALBUQUERQUE — The University of New Mexico track and field program is hosting a series of indoor meets open to all ages this winter at the Albuquerque Convention Center, the indoor facility for the Lobos.
The slate of meets starts Saturday with the Duke City All-Comers.
The following race will be the New Mexico Open on Jan. 30 while the Cherry and Silver Open will take place Feb. 6.
Each meet costs $1 to enter and all three meets start at 6 p.m.
Athletes can register for the meets at CoachORegistration.com.
The entry deadline for the meets is at midnight the Friday before the meet. There will be no walk-up registration offered.
Participants at each meet receive a complimentary T-shirt and healthy snacks and refreshments.
For more information, contact meet directors Emily Hosker-Thornhill and Matt Bergin at unmindoor@gmail.com.

SILVER CITY (AP) — Federal officials have plans to stock about 10,000 Gila trout in southwestern New Mexico to boost recreational fishing opportunities.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says recovery stocking goals for the threatened fish were met in 2015 so the excess fish will be released in the Gila River Forks and in Lake Roberts in early January.
The fish are expected to grow to the catchable nine-inch range by the end of May.
The Gila trout was first listed as endangered in 1966. Thanks to recovery work over the decades, its status improved and it was down listed to threatened in 2006.
For 2015, a national fish hatchery in northern New Mexico propagated more than 50,000 Gila trout for recovery efforts.

ALBUQUERQUE — The University of New Mexico men's basketball team (8-6, 1-0 MW) kicked off Mountain West Conference play with a victory, defeating the Nevada Wolf Pack (8-5, 0-1 MW), 88-76, Wednesday in WisePies Arena.
"It's good to get back on the court and get a win," said head coach Craig Neal "It was one of those things that I knew we could do, I knew we could play to our capabilities, and I thought for 10-15 minutes the first half we played at a high level. We've had some inconsistencies with the maturity of my team and that's part of growing together. But all in all, I'm really happy with the guys. They played hard, they finished the game and they stayed together."
The win marked the 50th career victory for Craig Neal as the head coach of New Mexico. Reaching the mark in 79 games, he’s one of the five fastest coaches to ever reach that mark.

The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team (7-6) returns to the friendly confines of WisePies Arena Wednesday to begin Mountain West Conference play against the Nevada Wolf Pack (8-4) at 7 p.m. on ROOT SPORTS.
The Lobos return from a disappointing trip to the 2015 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, where after six strong weeks of play, New Mexico hit its first skid of the season. With league play starting up, the Lobos will look to rebound at home where they are 6-1 this season.
The Lobos have won four straight conference opening games, including last season’s 80-73 victory inside WisePies Arena against Colorado State. The Lobos have not lost a Mountain West opener inside their arena since the 2006-07 season.
While the Lobos played three games in four days last week, the Wolf Pack have been resting since last Tuesday’s loss to Wichita State, 98-69. Before that loss, the Wolf Pack had rattled off three straight victories over Fresno Pacific, Drake and Santa Clara, all at home.

Horse. Cowboy. Skier. Rope. This high-adrenaline, sport combines all four.
In skijoring, a skier hangs on to a rope attached to a horse and glides across the snow. It’s like horse-drawn waterskiing on snow. Best of all, skijoring is a thrilling spectator sport. With speeds of up to 40 mph, the action is fast-paced and exciting. You see the skiers being towed by a horse at a full gallop.
The inaugural Red River Skijoring races will be held Jan. 16-17. The races will start each day at high noon on River Street in Red River.
Teams will race through a time-trial course with skiers navigating gates, jumps, and, at times, even spearing rings. Authentic horsepower and big spills make this truly one-of-a-kind winter western event.
The event is free for spectators.
Competitors can find registration information and rules on the event website, RedRiverSkijoring.com. There are daily cash prizes and prizes for overall winners of both days of competition in all divisions (novice, sport and open). For the safety of the horses, riders and skier’s this is strictly a no-dogs event.

Abiquiu Lake: There have been no signs of kokanee for snagging.
Animas River: Water flow near Aztec on Monday morning was 293 cfs. Fishing was fair to good using salmon eggs and spinners for trout.
Albuquerque Area Drains: Trout fishing on the Albuquerque Drain, Albuquerque Drain (south) and Corrales Drain was good using worms, salmon eggs, PowerBait, small streamers and San Juan worms.
Bluewater Lake: As of Monday morning there was a thin layer of ice on the lake that was unsafe for fishing.
Chama River: Kokanee snagging opened Oct. 1 and runs through Dec. 31 on that section of river from El Vado Lake to the west boundary of the Chama River Wildlife and Fishing Area. Monday morning water flows below El Vado and Abiquiu were 1,160 cfs and 1,190 cfs respectively. Fishing below El Vado was fair using spoons, PowerBait and salmon eggs for brown and rainbow trout.
Cochiti Lake: Fishing was slow for all species.
Eagle Nest Lake: There was a layer of thin ice on much of the lake which was unsafe for ice fishing. However, there was some open water for bank fishing.

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — When Bob Davie became New Mexico’s head coach in 2011, he bluntly said he’d make no promises. The Lobos had lost 35 of their past 38 games and the previous coach had been fired following a slew of embarrassing off-field problems.
Davie only said he would seek to “stabilize this program.”
Four years after taking over the embattled football program, and 14 years since getting ousted himself as Notre Dame’s head coach, the 61-year-old Davie has the Lobos playing in their first bowl game in nearly a decade. New Mexico (7-5), will meet Arizona (6-6) in the New Mexico Bowl on Saturday after a surprisingly solid season that saw the Lobos shock Boise State and Mountain West Mountain Division champion Air Force.
Davie succeeded Lou Holtz at Notre Dame in 1997 and compiled a 35-25 record over five years. He was fired after the 2001 season with a 5-6 record.
Davie said his return to the college postseason, his first since 2000, is “absolutely not” about redemption. It’s about rebuilding a program that still needs more work with a bowl appearance as a first step, he said.